A close knit community in Tallaght has been left devastated by the tragic death of Reece Cullen, who was knifed in broad daylight yesterday afternoon.

A 14-year-old was arrested earlier in connection with the incident.

It's understood the teen handed himself over to Tallaght Garda Station while accompanied by his mum.

Reece, 16, suffered stab wounds to the chest and despite being rushed to Tallaght Hospital, he died from his injuries.

He was knifed in Kilclare Crescent, Jobstown in broad daylight at around 3.30pm yesterday.

And as the horror of the tragedy continued to sink in this morning, the close-knit Kilclare community spoke of their devastation.

One neighbour who has lived in the estate for 33 years told Dublin Live: "I have five boys, they're all grown up now but years ago if there was any sort of an issue they'd fight on the green there, but there would never be any knives or guns involved.

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"I didn't know the young lad or his family but I can't believe his age, it's awful.

Another woman said: "It's so sad. This is a very quiet estate.

"I've been here 20 years and we've never had anything like this happen before.

"My heart goes out to the family."

One shocked resident added: "I was taking the bins out yesterday and I saw the fire brigade and ambulances rush in and I thought maybe someone had had a small fire at most, but I would never have imagined something like this could have happened."

Local Fianna Fail Councillor, Charlie O'Connor told Dublin Live: "I live in Springfield, very close by and I was driving near here after 3pm and there was a lot of Garda activity so I made a few calls and then the tragic news emerged.

"I would be familiar with the Cullen family, I certainly remember Reece's poor mother passing away last September. It's terrible.

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"I want to sympathise with the family and the community too because this will have a serious impact on people in the area. The sympathy will stretch across Tallaght.

"I hope people will cooperate with the gardai so closure will be achieved very quickly for the family."

Gardai were still carrying out forensic examinations at the scene this morning as a teenage boy was arrested in connection with the stabbing.

Councillor O'Connor added: "People are reluctant to come out today and that'll be the case for a while, they may be concerned about the comments from other areas of Dublin that may look at this and say - 'Tallaght again' or 'Jobstown again' which is unfair.

"There are a lot of people doing a lot of great work here. There's a lot of good organisations here and good people and it's important to remember that too."